Flotation apparatus



J. l. THOMAS.

FLOTATION APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 25. 1919.

Patented July 5, 1921,

no U

i INVENTOR ATTORNEYS the surface by JOSEPH INGRAM rn'omnslor GAnFmu-n,urnn.

FLo'rA'rIoN APPARATUS weasel.

'Specification of. Letters Patent i Patented. July 5, 1921.

Application med march 25, 1919. serial'No. 284,922. f

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known thatfI, JOSEPH I. THo. As, residin Lake, State ofv Utah',have .invented certain new and useful Irnprovements'in FlotationApparatus; .and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact descrip' v tion of the invention, suchas will yenable others'skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame;

This invention relates to flotationl'apparatus, and has for its objectthe provision of an improved apparatus for carrying out otationoperations and more particularlyfthe concentration of .mineral ores byflotation.

In thefconcentration of ores by, flotation,

the mineral `ore pulp ,is subjected to ther ac- -tion of gas bubbles,whereby those" particles of the mineral .which vhave an aliinity orattraction for the bubbles of gas are carried to form of an overflowfroth. The gas bubbles should be disseminated in a ne stateof-subdivision throughoutth'e mass of Vthe ore pulp and variousl meanshave heretofore been employed and suggested for lintroducing a gas'- orepulp in a suitably line state of subdivision.

The present `invention contemplates the provision of a flotationapparatus having, in

combination) with a suitable container, an improved gaseous fluiddistributer for introducing into` the ore pulp gaseous fluid in a finelydisseminated state. In 'accordance with the invention, the container anddistributer are arranged for relative .rotation with respect to eachother, and the distributer is mounted within the container, andpreferably near the bottom thereof, and comprises a hollow body providedwith means permitting the escape from thel interior thereof of gaseousfluid in a nely disseminated state.

In its preferred form, the-hollow body is of blade-like configuration4yand one wall,

thereof formedof a'porousmedium sodisposed thatthe escape of gaseousfluid therethrough exerts an impelling action tending` relative rotation4of the` to eiect the desired container and distributer. In view of*lits ability tothus perform the function of exerting an impelling'`action, in addition to its function of distributing gaseous Huid withinthe ore pulp, thehollowbody may be aptly described as animpeller. Wherethis impelling action is ASufficient to effect the deat Garfield, in thecounty of Salt f the buoyant a'ction'of the gas bubbles and are floatedoff, usually inthe.

leach. celll of the series, and

the container. The shaft 6 lextends ,a rigid stationary sleeve orbearing 8 mountn sired relative rotation between these two ele' ments,no additional means need be provided or s purpose, and in other casesthe-impelllng action may be supplemented in any sultable manner, as, forexample, by positive mechanical rotation ofeither the container orthedlstributer. Gaseous iuid under` pressure 1s s'uppl1 ed to the hollowbody of the distrlbuter 1n any suitable way, and in the preferred formof the invention, aplurality of hollow bodies are' symmetricallydisposed about a hollow shaft and are secured to the shaft with theirhollow interiorsA in communlcatlon with the hollow interior of theshaft', whereby'the gaseous fluid may be introduced through the hollowshaft.

A flotation apparatus embodying the princlfples of the invention isillustrated, by way o in which;

Figure 1.- is apparatus; f

F ig. 2 is an elevation, partly in section, of the vlower -portion ofthe container and the distributer; and i v Fig..3 is a detailexplanatory'view, partly .a sectional elevation ofvthe' in section, ofthe'lower end of the distributer.

n The flotation apparatus or cell illustrated 1n the drawings comprisesa container `5, preferably circularin shape, which may be of concrete orother suitable material. practlce, a plurality of these cells arearranged in series or cascade, the ,Ore pulp being fed into the first lsively subjected t'o -a iotation treatment in the tailings dischargedfrom the end `or last cell. The floated values or concentrates `,arecarried over the gv edgeof each Acell as an overflow froth 'and arecollected in any convenient manner, as iswell understood inthe art.-

xample, in the accompanyingA drawings,

Iny

or headcell and progres-- v A hollow shaft 6 is vertically and centrallyl disposed within the'container 5. This sh'aft is-preferably made in twosections which are bolted, or otherwise suitably secured, c tgether by acoupling?, so as to .permitthe convenient removal 'of the d-istributerfrom vthrough ed in a beam 9, or lthe like. Aithrust ring 10 securedtothe shaft-rests on thesleeve 8 and serves to support the shaft.' Alpin11 is preferably set in the bottom of the container guide pin for thebottom.

ofthe shaft 6, as will-bepmore fully explained hereinafter, It will, ofcourse, be understood 5 and serves as a The close that any othersuitable construction maybe employed for rotatably mounting the shaft 6,or for otherwise securing the desired relative rotation between thecontainer and the gaseous fluid distributer.

The upper end of the hollow shaft 6 is connected in any suitable mannerto the source of compressed gaseous fluid. lin the apparatus shownin theaccompanying drawcapes from the distributer is not of sufficient forceto e'ect the desired rotation. @ther mechanical means may, of course, beem. ployed to e'ect the desired rotation of the distributer. From thechamber 13, the gaseous fluid escapes into the upper open end of-theshaft 6 and thence into the hollow interiors of the blade-likebodies 01 impellers ,16 of the distributer.

lThe distributer illustrated in'the accompanying drawings has fourhollow. bodies 16 symmetrically positioned about the shaft 6 and securedthereto, in proximity to the bottom of the container 5. Each body 16consists of a main body portion resembling generally a shallow tray, andhaving more or less the general configuration of a propeller blade. Tothis end, the hollow bodies 16 may be slightly twisted or spiraled, inorder to conform more nearly to the usual configuration of a propellerblade.

The open side of the main of each impeller'16 is covered by aporousmedium, such, for example, as a 'piece of canvas 17. The canvas can beheld in place by means of a rope 18 driven into a 'groove' 19 around theouter edv e of themain body portion. The main boy portion may be acasting of iron,` of from one-fourth to threeeighths inches inthickness, although lit will, of course, bejunderstood that li do notintend to limit myself to` these dimensions. The impcllers 16 may besecured to the shaft 6 by 'means of 'a square lplug couplingy 20 whichis screwed to the lower end of the shaft and is provided with four4openings 21, one on leach side thereof, for affording communicationwith the interiors of the hollow impellers 416. Each impeller isprovided at its inner end with a base-plate 22 which is secured to thecoupling 20 by bolts 23, so that the opening\21 registers with anopening 24, in thebase of the impeller, communicatin with the hollowinterior thereof.

bottom of the hollow plug coupling 20 is provided Vwith an indentationor cup 25 into which the guide pin 11 projects body portion iussassi Theimpellers are secured in position with the porous medium 17, which formsa substantially plane or flat wall thereof, disposed at such an angularinclination that the escape of 'gaseous fluid through this medium exertsan vimpelling action on the distributer tending to e'ect its rotation.1n the apparatus shown in the accompanyingdrawings, this impellingaction operates to effect rotation lof the distributer in a clockwisedirection, as viewed; from above. While, in the accompanyingdrawings,the impellers are illustrated as arranged withthe porous wall thereoflowermost, it will of course be understoodthat this arrangement may bereversed and the porous wall may accordingly he uppermost, if desired.

rlhe operation of the apparatus will be understood by those skilled inthe art from the foregoing description. The ore pulp is `supplied to thecontainer 5 in any suitable manner. ln the cell shown in the accom-`panying drawings, two openings 26 and 27 vare provided near the bottom,through one of which the ore pulp is supplied to the cell and throughthe other of which the pulp is withdrawn. During the flotationtreatment, the gaseous fluid distributer is slowly rotated and gaseousfluid, for example, compressed air, under a pressure of say five toeight pounds per square inch, is admitted to the sup-ply pipe 15. Thegaseous fluid escapes through the porous wall of each of the impellersin a finely disseminated state, and rising through'the ore pulp in thisfine state of subdivision e'ects the flotation of the particles offloatable mineral in the pulp.

The rotation of the gaseous fiuid distributer in conjunction with theimproved construction thereof, as contemplated by the is accordingly'remarkably even and umtion of gaseous fluid throughout the ore pulp lform, and, as is well recognized in the art, l,

this isof particular advantage in the flotation operation. I The amountof canvas, or other suitable porous medium, is materially less in myimproved gaseous distributer than in present types of` flotation cellsin which ,porous mediums are provided for the introduction of a gaseousfluid. Asa result 0f my improved construction, the impeller is veryeasily removed from the container and the canvas, or other porous'medium, can be thus convenienlty renewed. Since the amount of canvasprovided for/each impeller is of relatively small area,little`difficultyfis experienced from the stretching or bulgingl ofthe canvas,as is the case in flotation apparatus in which the porous medium coversthe entire bottom of the cell or container.`

Furthermore, my improved construction is effect to slightly raise thedistributer. and

thus relieves the bearing thrust between the sleeve 8 and the ring 10,so that the distributer may be said to Ahave somewhat of a floatingbearing, by which the wear and friction are materially reduced. Thecircular shape of the container 5 enables the froth overflow to takeplace around the entire periphery of Vthe cell, whereby the Lfrothoverflow may be removed-from the cell in the most effective manner.

The porous walls of the hollow bodies of the distributer are ofsufficient total area to provide the introduction into the ore pulp ofthe necessary quantity of gaseous fluid,

and, in combination `with the rotation of the distributer, insures aneven and uniform distribution of gaseous fluid. At the same time thetotal quantity of porous medium, such as canvas, required for the hollowbodies is relatively small, and, when worn out or impaired inefliciency, canbe renewed fat very slight expense and with littlepracterior thereof through said porous medium exerts an impelling actionltending to e'ect relative rotation between said container and saiddistributer, and means for supplying gaseous fluid to the interior ofsaid body. y 2. A flotation apparatus having in combination with acontainer, a gaseous fluid distributer comprising a hollow blade-likebody mounted for rotation within said container and near the bottomthereof and having a v substantially plane wall formed of a porousmedium permittingthe escape from the interior of the body of. gaseousfluid in a finely disseminated state, said porous wall being disposed atan inclination ,such that thees cape of gaseous fluid therethroughexerts an distributer relativel combination a container and a gaseousfluid distributer relatively rotatable with respect to each other, saiddistributer being arranged within said container and near-the bottomthereof and comprising a plurality of impellers each of which has asubstantially plane porous wall for permitting the escape from theinterior thereof of gaseous fluid inu a finely' disseminated state, theporous walls of said impellers being "disposed at an inclination suchthat the escape of gaseous fluid therethrough exerts an impelling actiontending to effect relative rotation between said container and saiddistributer, and auxiliary means for effecting relative rotation betweensaid containerand said distributer.

4. A flotation apparatus having in combination with a container, a@gaseous fluid distributer comprising a hollow impeller mounted forrotation within said container and near the bottom thereof and havingone wall thereof provided with a porous medium permitting the escapefrom the interior of the bodyy of gaseous ,fluid in a finelydisseminated'state, said porous wall being disposed at an vinclinationsuch that the escape of gaseoiis fluid therethrough exerts an impellingaction on said impeller, means for supplying gaseous fluid underpressure to the interior of said impeller, and auxiliary means actuatedby the gaseous fluid supplied to said impeller for Arotating the pro-`peller.

5. A flotation apparatus comprising in combination a container and agaseous fluid distributer relatively rotatable` with respect to eachother, said distributer being mountedi within said container, and nearthe bottom l thereof, and comprising an impervious, hollow, blade-likebody, having a\ substantially plane porous wall disposed at an inclina-'tion such that the escape of gaseousifluid therethrough exerts animpelling action on said distributer, and means for supplying a gaeousfluid to the interior of said hollow bO y; 1' y 6. A flotation apparatuscomprising in combination a container and a gaseous fluid rotatable withrespect to each other, said* distributer being mounted within saidcontainer, and near` the bottom thereof, and'comprising a'plurality ofsymmetrically positioned, impervious, hollow, blade-like bodies, each ofwhich has a 'substantially plane porous` wall disposed at an inclinationsuch that the escape of gaseous impelling action on said body, and meansxfo/ a gaseous fluid to the interior of said hollow .supplying a'gaseous fluid to the interior of said hollow body.

3. A' llotat1on apparatus comprising fluidtherethrough exerts animpelling action on said, distributer, and means for. supplying

